Improvement in artificial fuel



P. F. E. MUCK. Artificial Fuel.

No. 212,150 Paten-ted Feb'. 11, 1879.

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'UNITED STATES PATENT FFTCE.

FRIEDRICH E. MUCK, 0F BOCHUM, GERMANY.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARTIFICIAL FUEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,150, dated February1l, 1879; application filed November 12, 1878.

To all whom it may concer/n:

Bc it known that I, Dr. FRIEDRICH F. E. MUGK, of Bochum, in the Empireof Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inArtificial Fuel and I hereby declare the same to be fully, clearly, andexactly described as follows:

My invention relates to that class of fuels composed of coal dust orscreenings and a substance somewhat of thenature of aeement, having forits purpose to agglomerate the fine particles of coal into a solid massor brick.

Bitumen in its various forms has heretofore been a favorite material forthis purpose; but its use is open to the objection that the fuel bricksformed by its aid are extremely liable to crumble and disintegrate.

I have succeeded in forming an artificial fuel from coal-dust which isnot open to the above nor any other objection, the bricks formed ashereinafter described possessing a degree of hardness andstrengthnearly, if not quite, equal to that of the natural coal in mass.rlhe material I make use of, in conjunction with coal-dust, is preparedfrom the Fue-us, or sea-weed, which is found in great profusion onsea-coasts, notably that of the German sea.

A few days after being gathered, the Fucus, which at first is of a darkoli\-*egreen color, bccomes covered with a clammy slime, which is verytough and tenaciousfand admits of being drawn out into threads, and maybe sepa-rated from the rest of the plant by washing. In practice,however, I permit the Fucus to remain in a moist state in suitabletanks, exposed to the air for from four to six months, when the wholemass is transformed into a pasty material, most excellently adapted forthe purpose to which I devote it. This pulp will now dry up to a hardmass, having the general physical properties of horn, and consists, asused, of about nineteen per cent. of solid matter of unknown chemicalcomposition, and eighty-one per cent. of water. Twelve parts, by weight,of fine coal-dust are then thoroughly kneaded, in any approved form ofmachine, with five parts of the mass referred to, the resulting materialbeing then formed into bricks and dried at the natural temperature. Theso-formed bricks are hard and smooth, and Vdo not crumble ordisintegrate when heat is applied, but burn exactly after the manner ofnatural coal.

The mass of Fincas used to form the bricks maybe evaporated to asmallvolume, for transporta-tion from the coast to the point at whichthe fuel is to be made, and there mixed with the proper proportion ofwater for incorporation with the coal-dust.

The proportions hereinbefore given for forming the fuel add but aboutfifty-six per cent. to the total ash.

A cubical fuel brick is shown in the accompanying drawing.

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Iatent, is-

1. An artificial fuel consisting of coal-dust and decomposed Fumes,substantially as 'set forth.

2. The process described of preparing articial fuel, consisting inincorporating together coal-dust and decomposed Fac-us, forming intosuitable shapes, and drying at the natural temperature, as set forth.

DR. FRIEDRICH FERDINAND ERNST MUCK. Witnesses:

Louis Bassa, PETER BARTHEL.

